Myanmar Junta Says Senior Officer Detained During Militant Rebut Military Base Near China Border

Myanmar military junta spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun. (Source: rfa.org)

JAKARTA - Myanmar's junta acknowledged losing communication with senior officers at a major military base near the Chinese border, after militants announced they were taking control of the headquarters of the main regional army.

The rebel group of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance (MNDAA), which said on July 25 it had taken over the base, but continued to struggle to gain full control, posted a photo of its troops at the military stronghold in Lashio City on Saturday.

Military junta forces were unable to contact an undisclosed number of officers in the trapped northeastern regional command, military spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Monday, after weeks of intense fighting in and around the city.

"It has been found that senior officials have been arrested," he said in an audio message posted on the Telegram messaging app, adding the military junta was working to verify the situation.

Myanmar's ruling generals are under unprecedented pressure three years after overthrowing civilian rule in a coup, while armed insurgency to increasingly strong military rule amid a slowing economy.

A resistance movement was sparked by a crackdown on demonstrations following the February 2021 coup, when thousands of young protesters took up arms and combined forces with several well-established ethnic rebel groups against the military.

"MNDAA has received full victory after destroying the remaining enemy forces and fully conquering the northeastern military headquarters," the group said in a statement on social media, accompanied by photos of its troops.

Lashio's disappearance, the first of 14 regional military commandos to fall into militants, marked a major defeat to the junta, which last year suffered a series of painful defeats in northern Shan state near China's borders.

The rebel attack, dubbed Operation 1027, stalled after Beijing intervened to help create a fragile ceasefire, but it collapsed as fighting continued in June in northern Shan State, where Lashio is located. China is known to have urged dialogue and an end to hostilities.

"The collapse of the Northeastern Command of the Myanmar army quickly made it clear to the ranks of resistance and neighboring countries how weak the Myanmar military is," said Jason Tower of the United States Institute of Peace.

"For Min Aung Hlaing, the implications are existential," he explained, referring to the head of the junta who is struggling.

"Landio's collapse can be the beginning of the end," he said.

Separately, three other anti-junta ethnic soldiers, who fought Myanmar's military along the Thai and Indian borders, on Sunday congratulated the MNDAA and other allied groups on the success of the offensive in Lashio.

"We will also continue to fight as allies until the military falls," said a statement from the Kachin, Karen and Chin groups.